The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, formerly known as the Baker Medical Research Institute, International Diabetes Institute, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, and commonly known as the Baker Institute, is an Australian independent [medical research institute headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
History Established in 1926, the institute is one of Australia's oldest medical research organisations with a historical focus on cardiovascular disease.
In 2008, it became the country's first medical research institute to target diabetes, heart disease, obesity and their complications at the basic, clinical, and population health levels.
The institute is located adjacent to The Alfred Hospital within the Alfred Research Alliance Precinct.
History The Baker Medical Research Institute was the creation of Dr. John F. Mackeddie, a clinical doctor and researcher, who had the idea of improving the laboratory facilities at The Alfred Hospital to keep up with advances in research. Mackeddie persuaded his friend, the photography industry pioneer and philanthropist Thomas Baker and his wife, Alice and sister-in-law, Eleanor Shaw, to assume financial responsibility. They decided the Institute should not only provide a better laboratory service for the hospital but should also have facilities for medical research.
In 1926, prior to appointing its first director, the Baker Institute hired Australian bacteriologist and biochemist Phyllis Ashworth as its first biochemist and electrocardiographer. Ashworth worked with the Institute's newly acquired Cambridge electrocardiograph, alongside her research into eclampsia.
Dr. William J. Penfold, who was internationally renowned in bacteriology and preventative medicine and was prominent in establishing the Australian Medical Research Council, was the first director of the Baker from 1926 until 1938. He was followed by Dr. Arthur B. Corkill, who first came to the Institute as a biochemist. Corkill described the methods of diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus at The Alfred Hospital in 1927. Twenty years later, in 1947, a young biochemist called Joe Bornstein was introduced to Corkill. Their work together resulted in the discovery of the two forms of diabetes—insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). This discovery in 1949 "... literally changed the concepts, research and treatment of diabetes".
From 1949 until 1974, Dr. Thomas E. Lowe was the institute's director. With a team of notable investigators, Lowe developed the Baker into a major research organisation with world-class facilities. The team included: Paul Fantl identified key parts of the clotting cascade Alf Barnett a pioneer of the treatment of hypertension and vascular disease Priscilla Kincaid-Smith identified analgesics as a cause of kidney failure Winifred Nayler helped define calcium channel physiology Austin Doyle had a profound impact on hypertension research and founded the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia
It was during this time that cardiovascular research became the major focus. Research included the further development of cardiovascular surgery; new techniques of ECG and phonocardiography; treatment of congestive cardiac failure and of arterial hypertension. Sir James Officer Brown researched and tested open heart surgery in pre-clinical trials with the support of the Baker Institute, paving the way for Australia's first successful open heart operation at The Alfred Hospital in 1957 which was undertaken by Kenneth Morris. Morris went on to make major contributions to cardiac and thoracic surgery, alongside George Stirling (Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit at The Alfred Hospital from 1971 to 1988), with strong support from the Baker Institute in trialling and developing new cardiothoracic techniques.
Professor Paul Korner , a cardiac physiologist noted for his contributions to the understanding of hypertension, took on the role of director in 1975 and by this time, the sole focus of the institute was cardiovascular disease research. Significant advancements during this time included new strategies for hypertension; greater understanding of the role of the autonomic nervous system; insight into the role of cholesterol in atherogenesis and triglycerides as an independent risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis. Notable investigators included Paul Nestel (nutrition, CVD, atherosclerosis and lipid metabolism), Murray Esler (causes and treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure, and effects of stress on the cardiovascular system) and Garry Jennings (causes, prevention and treatment of CVD, and relationship between exercise, blood pressure, sympathetic nervous system activity and glucose metabolism).
Other notable investigators whose work would come to have a significant bearing on the Institute included Paul Zimmet, who pioneered Australia's first institute dedicated exclusively to diabetes. His research in Australian, Pacific, and Indian Ocean populations has highlighted the rise of diabetes worldwide, providing new insights into the genetic and environmental determinants of type 2 diabetes.
Professor John Funder was appointed Director in 1990 and bought his work on cardiovascular endocrinology, especially aldosterone action to the institute. Funder rewrote the pathophysiology of adrenal steroid action in the cardiovascular system, reshaping what we believe about aldosterone, cortisol and mineralcorticol receptors. He was recognised for his contributions to public policy across primary health issues.
In 2001, cardiologist-researcher Professor Garry Jennings AO became the institute's sixth director. Under Jennings' leadership, the Institute grew substantially and by 2002, the Institute had its own purpose-built facilities adjacent to The Alfred Hospital. By 2007, a national Aboriginal Health research program was established to help address the profound health disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Jennings also oversaw one of the most significant changes in the institute's history, the merger in 2008 of the Baker Heart Research Institute with the International Diabetes Institute, which was founded and led by Zimmet. This created Australia's first multidisciplinary medical research institute dedicated to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and their complications, such as kidney disease.
In January 2016, Professor Thomas Marwick was appointed Director of the Institute. Professor Thomas Marwick FACC FESC FRCP FRACP had been Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania and a Cardiologist at the Royal Hobart Hospital. He holds an MBBS from the University of Melbourne, a PhD from the University of Louvain and an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. He has previously held the role of Head of the Cardiovascular Imaging, Heart and Vascular Institute and Imaging Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
In May 2023, the Baker Institute appointed respected cardiovascular researcher and cardiologist Professor John Greenwood MBChB, PhD as their new Director. Professor Greenwood was the Director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the United Kingdom and President of the British Cardiovascular Society.
The Baker Heart Research Institute J. F. Mackeddie, a pathologist originally from Scotland, but who practised in Melbourne in the early 20th century, became a close friend of Thomas Baker through being neighbours on land south of the city. Mackeddie was "concerned with the science of diseases and the need to apply the advancing knowledge of biological science to human illness…” After convincing Baker to donate funds, firstly to the Alfred Hospital and then for research, he went on to become one of the founding Trustees of the Baker Medical Research Institute. Mackeddie recruited A. B. (Basil) Corkill as a biochemist for the new Institute. The salary was paid by Thomas Baker.
The initial project dealt with new techniques for diagnosing diseases of the nervous system, in particular, the changes in cell content and chemistry of cerebro-spinal fluid in various diseases. Other projects in the early days involved bacteriology, at the time the institute was started, the advancing edge of scientific medicine, and its application to the management of infectious disease in man. In the 1930s microbiology was a focus, with many of those projects reliant upon blood cultures and the techniques developed were published in a monograph – "Blood Cultures and their Significance" by H Butler in 1937. The Monograph Series lasted until 1974 – with 9 published. They covered anaesthesia, tumours, the cardiovascular system and scleroderma.
Basil Corkill described the methods of diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus at the Alfred Hospital in 1927. Twenty years later, in 1947, Joe Bornstein a young biochemist was introduced to Basil Corkill, who by then was Director of the Baker Institute. Their work together resulted in the discovery of the 2 forms of diabetes – insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). This discovery in 1949 “..literally changed the concepts, research and treatment of diabetes".
In their collection of memoirs of Baker Medical Research Institute Alumni, Andrew and Barnett describe the work of the Baker Institute to have “..always been in the interface between scientific medicine and the practice of medicine, a field engendered and enhanced by its association with Alfred Hospital". They remark that from its earliest days, the staff were involved in communicating the outputs of research to the clinical community and the community in general. An example being the statewide tours of Victoria that Basil Corkill and Ewen Downe made to introduce the new insulin treatment of diabetes mellitus.
In 1940, Paul Fantl became interested in blood clotting. At the time, synthetic Vitamin K was being produced and was often in short supply. Using very simple equipment – test tubes, water bath, stop watches and a centrifuge – he was "in the forefront of a revolutionary concept that led to the recognition of Factors V, VII, and X", and with Miss Nance, internationally credited with the discovery of Factor V. He went on to become a member of the International Committee for the Standardisation of the Nomenclature of Blood Clotting Factors in 1956. In 1963 he was honoured when the Fantl-Koller Schema was declared.
Other areas of research up to 1949 included asthma, eye disease, immunoproteins, scleroderma and surgery. The research on surgery lead to the development of cardiac surgery at the Alfred Hospital.
In the 1950s Tom Lowe decided to make a study of congestive heart failure. He concluded "that the body's fluid system was an 'open system' with an intake and output and divisions of the contents under control of various factors". He was also interested in electrocardiography, especially vector cardiography and had machines constructed to show the three-dimensional view.
Between 1949 and 1974, staff at the Baker Medical Research Institute also devoted a significant amount of time and energy to equipment construction to meet the needs of their researchers, this included some early, crude versions of heart-lung machines to aid in cardiac surgery. Some research on the alimentary canal also was undertaken, however this work ceased in 1968.
In 1949, cardiovascular research was one of the major growth edges of medicine was cardiology. At the time, it represented two-thirds of the total research in the Baker Medical Research Institute. Cardiology research included: Further development of cardiovascular surgery New techniques of ECG and phonocardiography